Braves starting rotation takes another hit with latest pitching injury

The Atlanta Braves have one of the best four-man pitching rotations in the entire league. Max Fried, Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez and Charlie Morton have been spectacular for Atlanta.

Unfortunately, there's a fifth spot in the rotation that's tasked with pitching every fifth day and this spot has been a disaster for the Braves.

This spot is supposed to be filled by their ace, Spencer Strider, but Strider is set to miss the entire season with an elbow injury. Bryce Elder was next in line for the spot, but he struggled in five starts and has since been sent to the minors.

Braves next man up AJ Smith-Shawver lands on IL with oblique injury

The next man up, top prospect AJ Smith-Shawver, made his first start of the season this week in impressive fashion but bad news quickly followed. After just one start on Thursday, he was moved to the injured list with an oblique injury.

Atlanta wouldn't want to chase pitching in the trade market, as the youth on their staff should be the future of the team, but the focus will turn to the present instead of the future and Atlanta could be very active on the trade market.

Elder will likely be back with the big league club in the near future, given another chance to prove that he's the same pitcher that performed so well in 31 starts a season ago, including earning his first career All-Star selection.

If Elder and Smith-Shawver can't hold their own at the big-league level this season, Atlanta will turn to veteran options on the trade market. They would need to.

Their lineup was expected to carry the heavy load for the team this year, led by Ronald Acuna and Matt Olson, but both superstars have struggled mightily to begin the year. While they can very easily make a turnaround with their seasons, Atlanta can't just sit and wait for that to happen.

The Braves currently sit in second place in the NL East, trailing the scorching-hot Phillies. With expectations like the ones set on Atlanta, they need to be actively looking to chase the Phillies rather than staying afloat. Not having a solution to the fifth man in the rotation isn't an option for Atlanta.